COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Dan Groot scored three times and Ryan Young dished out four assists to lead the No. 6 Maryland men's lacrosse team to a 12-7 win over No. 18 Towson Saturday afternoon at a soggy Ludwig Field.

The Terrapins dominated the game in the trenches, winning 16-of-23 face-offs and taking the groundball battle, 53-31. Sophomore Bryn Holmes, nine wins, and senior Will Dalton, seven wins, were the catalysts for the Terps and combined for nine groundballs. Nine different Terps had at least four groundballs, led by senior defender Ryne Adolph, who picked up a career-best six off the turf.

The Terrapin offense was solid, but sloppy field conditions limited quality scoring opportunities in the first half. After junior midfielder Jeremy Sieverts gave the Terps a 1-0 lead with an unassisted runner down the left alley, Groot and Young hooked up for Maryland's second goal at the 11:06 mark. Towson then got on the board with an unassisted goal by Matt Hanzsche.

Sophomore long pole Brian Farrell scored his first of two goals on the day off an assist by redshirt freshman Dan Burns to give Maryland another two-goal lead. That play was made possible by a terrific hustle play that doesn't show up in the boxscore. Redshirt junior goalie Jason Carter beat a Tiger attackman to be nearest to the ball following a shot to give Maryland possession and start the Terps' transition attack that led to the Farrell score. Towson's Blake Best, playing in his first game of the season, scored for the Tigers with a little more than a minute left in the first quarter to trim the lead back to one.

Groot netted his second off an assist from Sieverts less than a minute into the second quarter, but Towson rallied to tie the score at 4-4 off goals by Randall Cooper and Eric Boyle. But Maryland would take a one-goal lead into halftime thanks to redshirt junior midfielder Jeff Reynolds, who laced a shot past Tiger goalie Billy Sadtler to make the score 5-4 for the Terps.

Reynolds continued his hot shooting in the third quarter with another unassisted goal to give him the first multi-goal game of his career. Towson's Jonathan Engelke scored nine seconds later off the ensuing face-off, but that was as close as the Tigers would get to the Terps. Maryland got back-to-back-to-back goals by freshman Grant Catalino, Dalton and freshman Travis Reed to build a 9-6 lead that it never relinquished.

Towson tried to rally and got back to within two on goals by Brian Vetter and Kyle Smedley in the final 45 seconds of the third quarter, but the Terps wore down the Tigers in the fourth quarter. In that decisive final period Maryland outscored Towson 3-0, had a 9-3 shot advantage, won all four face-offs and had a 15-6 lead in groundballs.

Catalino had the highlight goal of the fourth quarter at the 7:22 mark. The 6-foot-5, 240-pound attackman dodged one Tiger defender in front of the goal and whirled around twice through a couple more Towson players before connecting on a shot from a yard or so in front of the crease.

Young picked up assists number three and four on the final two Terrapin scores. The first of which came on Farrell's second goal, a wild no-look backhander that sneaked past goalie Matt Antol, who took over for Sadtler at the start of the third quarter. Groot closed out the scoring with his third of the game as Young hit him cutting through the left alley for an easy finish.

Maryland sophomore Brian Phipps made seven saves while playing the final 30 minutes for the Terrapins. Carter was also solid, stopping six Tiger shots in his 30 minutes of work.

In addition to the Terrapins solid work on the ground, the Maryland defense dogged the Tigers throughout the contest, forcing 16 of Towson's 23 turnovers. Leading the way was senior defender Joe Cinosky with four caused turnovers.

Maryland (4-1) returns to action on Friday, March 14 when it travels up I-95 to face UMBC in a rematch of last season's NCAA First Round match-up.

Game Notes:
 With today's 12-7 win Maryland is now 25-5 all-time vs. Towson and has won the last 14 games in the series.

 Jeremy Sieverts extended his point-scoring streak to eight games with his first quarter goal.

 Sieverts finished the game with a goal and an assist giving him 15 career multi-point games.

 Ryan Young is the first Terrapin player to have four assists in a game since Michael Phipps had four against Mount St. Mary's on March 20, 2007.

 Dan Groot's three goals give him his fourth career hat trick. It also gives him five multi-goal and 11 multi-point games in his career.

 Sieverts, Travis Reed and Young have had points in each of Maryland's five games this season.

 Reed is the only Terrapin player to have scored at least one goal in all four games.

 Joe Cinosky's four caused turnovers tied his career high, which was set originally at Duke on March 1.

 The fourth quarter shutout marks the second time in 2008 that the Terrapins have held an opponent scoreless in a quarter.